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Details
LOT 0674
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Demeter Holding Ear of Corn
1ST-2ND CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (2.21 grams, 19 mm).
Set in a silver mount with beaded edge; the intaglio depicting Demeter draped, advancing left and holding ear of corns in her right hand.
Provenance
Acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
Important North West London collection.
Literature
Cf. Walters, H.B., Catalogue of Engraved Gems & Cameos, Greek, Etruscan & Roman in the British Museum, London, 1926, no.3342, for similar.
Footnotes
Demeter and Hecate were linked to the afterlife cult, so it is possible that the ring to which the bezel belonged was a funerary gift. Demeter (Ceres for the Romans) was the Greek goddess of the harvest, the cycle of life and death and sacred law.
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LOT 0674
Roman Carnelian Gemstone with Demeter Holding Ear of Corn
Estimate £500 - 700€580 - 810 (for guidance only)$680 - 950 (for guidance only)
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